(Book Announcement 5) Introduction (part 3) by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

In the sense that the She Rises collective writing project does NOT begin with a ready-made blueprint, it is distinguished from a standard anthology. More to the point, this book is a book of the Goddess. By saying that, I do not mean that it is just about the Goddess. It is created in a gynocentric way and it serves a gynocentric purpose. Motivations matter; the task of the She Rises collective writing was first undertaken as a way of enhancing the Goddess/Mago Movement in 2014.[i] It has taken place spontaneously by the hand of volunteers. It relies on the gynocentric economy, a system of enabling the life of all beings operated through voluntary collaboration and egalitarian coordination. As an extension of the Gift Economy that Genevieve Vaughan advocates, the gynocentric economy is based on the voluntary sharing of one’s available resources for the whole.[ii] Gift-givers not only give what we can give freely but also enable a whole new (read non-patriarchal) mode of doing economic activities. In other words, they summon gynocentric reality to take place. Gynocentric economy secures free gift-giving activities and at the same time is shaped by the latter.

What we present is not just a thing (the Goddess book) but the gynocentric mechanism that allows the purpose of Goddess/Mago books to be achieved. Put differently, this book is the fulcrum of the gynocentric economy. In this gynocentric economy, authorship of the book is not isolated from the aspects of the book-making and the book-circulating. All departments are coordinated voluntarily. And each party is essential in the whole process. Contributors have given the materials for the body, while the editors and planning committee members have structured, paneled, and chiseled them into the final outlook. The publisher, Mago Books, does not dictate the process but plays a functional role. Mago Books is here to midwife the birth of the book and provide a home for the life of the book. Also, the support of outer-bookmaking volunteers and donors is not underestimated.[iii] They provide oils and fertilizers. Our readers also play a key role. They not only reap what the book offers but also turn the wheel of gynocentric economy to run its course. Buying books and spreading the word to potential readers and writers enable the life of the book. Each step is indispensable in achieving the gynocentric purpose of the collective writing project. Summarily, this book is not only the fruit of a collective writing but also the means of running the gynocentric economy among Goddessians/Magoists.

It has taken many years for me to pronounce the communal nature of the Mago Work. Defining the Mago Work necessarily endows us with the bird’s eye view of the Great Goddess, the primordial consciousness of WE in S/HE. Early this year, I asked people to define the Mago Work and their definitions are illuminating about what this book ultimately seeks to achieve.[iv]

“The Mago Work is the communal labour of bringing to birth, nurturing and growing the awareness of Goddess in human beings and in the Universe.” Mary Ann Beavis

“Named in honor of the Great Goddess (Mago), the Mago Work refers to the communal process of re-tuning human life to the music of the Cosmos.” Harriet Ann Ellenberger

“The Mago work sees through and beyond the fragments of destructive patriarchy to healing the connected whole of the planet, its ecosystems, and its people.” Mary Petiet

“The Mago work is knowing in our bones that She is alive, present and interactive.” Morgaine Swann

“The Mago Work is to bring back human awareness of the Living Goddess of whom we are all a part.” Morgaine Swann

“The Mago Work is we and what we do to awaken the remembrance of this in all.” Anna Tzanova

“The Mago Work is healing for the Female Collective Spirit.” Alicia Hirschhorn

“The Mago Work is healing for the Fe/Male Collective Spirit.” Deirdre Cruickshank

“The Mago Work is the Goddess Returning.” Tania Sirota

“The Mago Work is coming into alignment with the umbilical energetic cord that nurtures my female spirit hiding deep within my womb; so that She can awaken from within and do the magical Healing that She is so very capable of doing; at the same time inspiring women to awaken from within as well. Being connected to Mago means having the divine creative force available to us; we have access to unlimited power and it is calling us from Within our wombs.” Marie de Kock

“The Mago Work is a quest for the true history and origins of humanity for the principles of ancient matricentric cultures that fostered harmony among people and with Earth and all Her beings, and for the practices that we can carry forward to re-establish a society founded in harmonious resonance with all of Life.” Marka Zenmyo

“The Mago Work is revitalizing of the life force of the Primordial Mother that has been buried under patriarchy, the unified source of energy that restores nature’s power of self-healing in and across individuals, groups, and species.” Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

“The Mago Work is the collective cultivation of the consciousness of WE in the Creatrix.” Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

“The Mago Work restores the consciousness of WE in S/HE, the ultimate taboo in patriarchy.” Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

“The Mago Work restores kinship of all beings and cultures in the Primordial Mother.” Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

“The Mago Work is a re-tuning of everything to the cosmic music.” Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

“The Mago Work summons a gynocentric economy to take shape.” Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

“The Mago Work is the primordial knowing originating from the Great Goddess, Mago, which advocates feminist and spirituality-based activism, promotes creative and sound research, supports awareness of oneness of all entities in the universe across differences of sex, culture, race, ethnicity, class, ability and species, and seeks to create a world that is non-ethnocentric, non-racist, non-capitalist, non-imperialist and counter-patriarchal.” Mago Sisters

[ii] I have been inspired by Genevieve Vaughan’s thought of Gift Economy, the maternal model of doing economy based on the nature of unilateral gift-giving. See Genevieve Vaughan, “The Maternal Economy,” included in this book.

[iii] There are a number of supporters of She Rises Volume 2 who have participated via other means including social media. We are thankful for our donors to the crowdfunding campaign for which She Rises Volume 2 was included. The campaign is still available on the Mago Academy website. See “Support 2016 Mago Books Projects.” Mago Academy. April 30, 2016. Web. May 5, 2016. https://magoacademy.org/2016/04/30/support-2016-mago-work-projects-three-books/.

[ii] I have been inspired by Genevieve Vaughan’s thought of Gift Economy, the maternal model of doing economy based on the nature of unilateral gift-giving. See Genevieve Vaughan, “The Maternal Economy,” included in this book.

[iii] There are a number of supporters of She Rises Volume 2 who have participated via other means including social media. We are thankful for our donors to the crowdfunding campaign for which She Rises Volume 2 was included. The campaign is still available on the Mago Academy website. See “Support 2016 Mago Books Projects.” Mago Academy. April 30, 2016. Web. May 5, 2016. https://magoacademy.org/2016/04/30/support-2016-mago-work-projects-three-books/.